WASTED YOUTH Tuesdays Audio
Indie got weird in the last decade. What used to be a pretty well demarcated rock’n’roll subgenre, involving mostly guitars, bass and drums (and perhaps the odd keyboard in the case of the particularly fey exponents), now includes the faux-ethnic warbling of MIA and the electro-poncery of La Roux. Well no more; making a land-grab for true indie are Wasted Youth. No electro remixes and no flavour-of-the-month scenesters. If it ain’t a bone fide hit, it ain’t getting in. Just remember say your leather jacket is a tribute to the Stooges and not Justice. (MB)
BREAKAGE Audio Weds 2nd
Breakage has been a busy basshead lately, releasing instant grime anthem ‘Hard’, collaborating with Roots Manuva on ‘Run ‘Em Out’ and playing up, down and all around the country. On Wednesday 2nd he’ll grace Audio’s decks for Supercharged, their staple dance night that’s been a permanent fixture in clubbers’ mid-week calendars for half a decade now, so if you can’t wait till the weekend to satisfy your dubstep and drum’n’bass craving this night will certainly satiate you. (ZC)
LOWDOWN SKANKIN Jazz Place Thurs 3rd
Yet another midweek d’n’b dubstep fest – this one goes back to the roots though, being in an intimate venue with 4K of ear-bending sound supplied by Turbo. Ouch! Fresh from his ‘Killers’ track currently being battered worldwide by Caspa, Rusko and Skream, Goldie’s engineer DJ Heist will be dropping the freshest dubplates from d’n’b and the new halfstep sound. Back-up from Innovation, Rootz, and MC Double J makes this night one not to miss. (DC)
SOUL CASSEROLE Jazz Place Fri 4th
A night throwing its arms around the whole soul gamut, from rare underground grove, raw funk and Latin jazz to upfront funky beats, Soul Casserole brings an unfussy and unpretentious flavour to Fridays. Otis, Aretha, Curtis and Wilson are all so well-ensconced in the crowd’s heads they don’t need surnames, and DJs Alkie, Nelly and Funkelstilspin with special guest Bob Smith (founder and owner of Uptight Records, Saville Road, Hove) cook up the beats. (NC)
SKREAM, ZINC & SBTRKT Concorde 2 Sat 5th
Supercharged hits Concorde 2 with a larger-than-life line-up. Skream, one of dubstep’s pioneers and most proficient producers, Zinc the drum’n’bass master who’s proven he can successfully cross genres with classic garage like ‘138 Trek’ and his recent fidgety ‘Crack House EP’. Then we have SBTRKT, some fresh talent fast making a name for himself with props from Annie Mac, Zane Low and Mary Anne Hobbs. If there’s a better dance night this year we’re going to be very spoilt. (ZC)
BLACK RABBIT Coalition Sat 5th
Guy Williams and Bones’ über-cool electro night has had a good showing on the south coast, first at Audio and now at Coalition. Guy has been rocking dancefloors for years, appearing on our radar first at legendary gay night’s Trade and DTPM before taking the genre electro mainstream a few years ago. He’s damn good these days. (JK)
DUSK + BLACKDOWN Dome Tues 8th
Combining elements of dubstep, grime and desi sounds, Dusk + Blackdown resonate an amalgamated and gritty form of electronic music that reflects the multicultural and often dissolute London from which it originates. This month they bring their Margins Music live show to the Brighton Dome where we can expect some awesome acoustics and fully integrated audiovisual set sampling old Bollywood films mixed with video footage of an undone modern London. (ZC)
THE OUTER CHURCH Penthouse Weds 9th
Joseph Stannard’s (The Wire) monthly excursion into the hinterlands of rock and electronics tonight welcomes guest Ian Hodgson of Moon Wiring Club. Operating out of the (fictional) village of Clinkskell, Moon Wiring Club create moodscapes from a disorientating array of unsettling samples, drawn from the uncanny elements of Britain’s film and television heritage. Students of the Ghost Box and Mordant Music labels, as well as disaffected Boards Of Canada fans, should discover much to prickle the skin here. (DL)
BLAH BLAH BLAH 3rd BIRTHDAY Digital Sat 12th
Blah Blah Blah is a brand born in Brighton, but it’s also known internationally, in part due to its successful blog which critiques cutting edge dance music. Expect a special birthday edition to shine at its natural base. Add in the magic ingredient of rising dance star Alex Metric, with his multitude of quality remixes and you have the perfect electronic cocktail. (TR)
SIDNEY SAMSON Honey Club Sat 12th
One tune can make you in dance music and ‘Riverside’ certainly made Sidney Sampson – and not just in Britain, across the whole world. Chunky electro that stomps around like a toddler that’s just dropped its ice cream, the track was hammered by everyone from David Guetta to Diplo and Tiga. This is probably gonna be the biggest night Seven Sins have thrown for a while. (JK)
VIBEALIVE/LUNARCY Volks Sat 12th/Sat 26th
Two classic slabs of hedonism return for reunions at the Volks this month. First, with proof that hardcore will never die, is Vibealive who are cramming 16 DJs into Saturday 12th. A fortnight later Mr Natural and The Lunarcy Soundsystem give a nod to all the bass music they played over 14 years. Expect plenty of old faces at both nights. (JK)
KELE OKEREKE Digital Thurs 24th
Confusion reigns at the heart of Bloc Party and their overburdened singer, Kele Okereke. Do they want to be a guitar band, an electronic act, the new Radiohead, or all three? Is he gay, straight or swinging all over the place like a severed electric cable? Well, judging by the frenzied synth and LED thunderstorm of debut single ‘Tenderoni’ and a tell-all interview he recently gave to Butt magazine, we are nearing clarity. Congratulations to Kele for finally coming out, on both counts. (BG)
DIRTYBIRD 5TH BIRTHDAY Audio Fri 25th
As if it wasn’t enough that Dirtybird boss Claude VonStroke turned up at Minimal Kids in April, now the label is back to celebrate its half decade. Justin Martin – who makes beautiful, emotive house music best summed up by his classic ‘The Sad Piano’ for Buzzin’ Fly – headlines but J Phlip is joining him on the journey from San Francisco where she holds a highly regarded residency at Endup. Schtumm and Kliks will back them up. (JK)
MK13 Harlequins Sat 26th
One of Brighton’s last remaining industrial nights is back this month, after May saw it return from a well-earned break. And it goes a long way to show there’s more to industrial goth nights than PVC-clad vampires and clove cigarettes. Sure, there might be a few of these, but there’ll also be stomping beats, dirty bass and bleeping EBM tunes. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. (DC)
WORDS BY DAZ CARNABY, ZAC COLBERT, DANI COLYER, JAMES KENDALL DAVID LETTS, THE RECOMMENDER